#MAGFAB: Shakira for Billboard Magazine - 23rd September 2023
HOT and the story is HERE!
#RHOA: Cynthia Bailey Is Open to the Possibility of Returning to ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’
#RHOA: Cynthia Bailey Is Open to the Possibility of Returning to ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’
On Sept. 16 at the Fashion, Arts, Culture and Education (FACE) gala in Atlanta, Atlanta Black Star caught up with Bailey. We later asked if she would ever consider rejoining the “RHOA” franchise.
She remains firm in her stance of it not being the right move for her right now. However, she claims that she would never rule it out if it felt right. After the recently completed 15th season “RHOA” had declining ratings, in August rumors circulated that season 16 of the series will see substantial changes.
This speculation sent ripples across X last month, sparking impassioned debates among fans. Some anticipate a “reboot” or an entirely new cast to inject fresh life into the franchise, while others attribute lackluster storylines to production choices in recent seasons.
In the end, the fans want once again to witness Nene Leakes, Porsha Williams, and Cynthia Bailey gracing their screens.
#MusicNews: K. Michelle Releases New Album “I’m The Problem”
K. Michelle has just released her final R&B album “I’m The Problem”. The singer announced prior to recording this album that she was going to fully pursue her career in country music after six studio albums.
The album contains the hit single “Scooch” as well as the previously released “You” and “Wherever the D May Land”. The project also contains the Louis York produced “Tennessee” which is a preview into her new world of country music.
STREAM HERE
The album contains production from her frequent collaborator Lil’ Ronnie as well as Jazze Pha and Cory Moore.
#HipHopNews: Megan Thee Stallion Struggles To Contain Excitement While Performing With Beyoncé
The Houston Hottie came out on stage to duet with Queen Bey on Saturday (September 23), performing their smash hit “Savage (Remix)” together for the very first time. At one point during their performance, Bey and Meg couldn’t help but show some love to one another.
“I want y’all to let us hear how proud you are,” Beyoncé said to the crowd. “Does she make you proud? She make me proud! I love you girl!”
“I love you Beyoncé!” Megan The Stallion screamed back, struggling to contain her excitement as she let out a high-pitched shriek.
Megan Thee Stallion has always believed in the power of sisterhood — so much so, in fact, that she reportedly ditched an important concert to perform with Beyoncé.
According to Page Six, the “WAP” rapper was scheduled to headline the Global Citizen Festival on Saturday, but ultimately decided not to perform because she got a better offer from the Lemonade singer.
The festival had previously sent out a tweet confirming that Megan Thee Stallion wouldn’t be performing, although it didn’t offer an explanation as to why. What’s more, reps for Meg didn’t get back to any press asking about the “unforeseen scheduling conflict.”
Meanwhile, in other Megan Thee Stallion news, she has recently been hand-picked to play a sexy hormone monstress in Netflix’s long-running animated series Big Mouth. The 28-year-old will be a part of Season 7 of the Emmy Award-winning show, which debuts on October 20.
In a recently-released trailer announcing her addition, Meg’s character can be seen entering the fray from a colorful mouth, while twerking and sliding down its tongue.
“Aw shit, booty badder den’ a pear, your hormone monstress is here!” exclaims her character, who is a shapely monster with horns and a long, flowing ponytail.
Writers Guild and studios reach tentative deal, potentially ending a monthslong strike that ground Hollywood to a halt
The major film and television studios and striking writers reached a tentative agreement on Sunday after days of marathon negotiating sessions, the Writers Guild of America said Sunday evening, paving a path forward to end the historic work stoppage that has frozen production and paralyzed much of Hollywood.
“What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” the WGA said in an email to members on Sunday. “It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”
The terms of the agreement were not immediately known.
While the agreement still needs to be ratified by members of WGA, which represents more than 11,000 writers, this marks a significant turning point in the nearly five-month-long strike. The current walkout came close to beating the longest strike in WGA history, a 1988 strike that lasted 154 days.
“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” the WGA said in its message to members.
However, the tentative deal does not immediately end the strike.
“To be clear, no one is to return to work until specifically authorized to by the Guild. We are still on strike until then,” the WGA wrote. “But we are, as of today, suspending WGA picketing.” The Guild encouraged members to join the picket line for the actors’ strike instead this week.
The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, has also been on strike since mid-July; SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 actors.
Both Hollywood strikes have been drawn-out and costly, with the nationwide economic impact of more than $5 billion, according to economists. Industries like restaurants, service firms and prop shops have also felt the ripple effects from the ongoing disputes and have had to cut staffing as a result. In New York, disruption of 11 major productions resulted in a loss of $1.3 billion and 17,000 jobs, according to Empire State Development.
The WGA could on Tuesday authorize its members to return to work before the agreement is officially ratified by the union’s members, it said in its statement.
One person close to the matter said that, as a result, writers could potentially be back to work in just days.
WGA concerns
Revenue streams from traditional linear television have been declining, and streaming services – while growing – are losing money. Seasons for streaming shows also tend to be shorter, which means less work for writers.
The writers have said they can’t afford to live under the current economics and pay structure of the television and movie industry, with fewer job opportunities on many shows and lower pay for many writers who do find work. There are many successful, even award-winning, writers who are finding themselves unable to make a living at the profession anymore.
Writers are also concerned about the rise of artificial intelligence and want protections to ensure movies and shows are written by humans, not machines.
In fact, the use of generative artificial intelligence in production was one of the final sticking points, a person familiar with the matter said.
Jonathan Majors Seemingly Hints At Marriage To Meagan Good
On Saturday night, September 23, the couple attended the Black and White Gala in Washington D.C. which she co-hosted with Larenz Tate. Taking the mic, she shared her excitement to be at the event by saying that she loves how they "support each other," noting that there were "so many beautiful black faces."
"We are so beautiful. I'm just happy to be here and I love you all," the "Deliver Us from Eva" star added, before handing over the mic to her boyfriend who was standing next to her. "Babe, you want to say anything?" she said.
Seemingly not prepared to deliver a speech, Jonathan took the mic as the crowd applauded only to say, "Y'all heard the missus, so that's what it is." Larenz, who stood next to Meagan on the other side, chuckled with the crowd as Meagan let out a sheepish smile.
Jonathan's statement quickly drew mixed responses from social media users. "This is such a PR move on BOTH parts! She left her Christian Husband to be in a Contractual Obligation with an A List uggggggggggggggggggaleeeyyyyy Actor smh," one person claimed.
Supporting the couple, another said, "I love them.. they make a great couple.." A second fan added, "I don't care what y'all say I'm here for this every body need love." Someone else commented, "Ion wanna hear 'wifey', 'the Mrs' NONE of that for my sisters until ya sign that marriage license sir!! We gotta tighten up."
So far, there is no clarification as to what Jonathan meant by calling Meagan "the missus." The pair have put on a united front despite his legal issues. They were first reported to be an item in May, two months after he was arrested on assault, strangulation and harassment charges stemming from a domestic dispute with his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari.
In June, the 42-year-old actress supported her 34-year-old beau during a hearing for his assault case. The pair were seen walking hand-in-hand as they entered and exited the Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City.
Chris Brown Hit With Lawsuit For Allegedly Failing To Pay $2M Popeyes Restaurant Loan
Chris Brown has found himself entangled in a new legal battle. The "Under the Influence" hitmaker has been sued by a bank for allegedly failing to pay a $2 million loan that he borrowed to purchase two Popeyes Chicken fast-food restaurants.
Filing the lawsuit against Breezy was City National Bank. The Georgia-based company claimed that it gave the loan to the R&B star and several others, including rapper The Dream. The bank additionally stated in court documents obtained by The Blast, "As of February 17, 2023, Borrower and Guarantors owe $2,140,901.74 in unpaid principal and interest."
Breezy is reported as "a personal guarantor" of the loan. He will most likely have to pay up though since the suit filed in California is a collection suit. City National Bank already won a default judgment against the musician.
him to court since 2021 over an alleged dog attack. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Patricia Avila claims she and her sister were attacked by CB's dog when they were cleaning the star's house on December 12, 2020.
On the day of the attack, the dog, which is described as a Caucasian shepherd, was in the backyard. When Maria entered the backyard to empty the vacuum, the dog growled at her and "proceeded to viciously attack" her, prompting her to scream. When hearing her sister screaming, Patricia ran outside "where she found her sister covered in blood while she was screaming and crying for help." CB immediately called 911, the court docs say.
Patricia claimed that Maria was attacked on her face around her eye and was also bitten on her leg. Additionally, she stated that there were several inches of skin missing from her arm. The lawsuit mentions that Maria needed to undergo two surgeries and stay in the hospital for multiple days.
In July of this year, Breezy reportedly asked a judge to push back the trial date for the $71 million lawsuit. The date was moved to the end of December after it was initially scheduled for September 26, 2023, according to RadarOnline.com.
Kerry Washington shares shocking family secret in new book
Revealing the startling information in the new book Thicker Than Water, the Scandal star penned that she was set to appear in the PBS show Finding Your Roots in 2018, which forced her parents to tell the long-held secret about her parentage.
Hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr., the series is famed for informing the public influencers about their forefathers via DNA testing.
In a chat with People, the 46-year-old shared her original reaction to the explosive revelation, "It really turned my world upside down."
"When I got this information, I was like, 'Oh. I now know my story,'" she continued. "I didn't know what my story was, but I was playing the supporting character in their story."
Explaining their action, Kerry's parents revealed that constant fertility issues compelled them to seek an unknown sperm donor to conceive.
Notwithstanding the initial shock, the Django Unchained actor is content with the revelation, saying, "really kind of me working to understand my life up until now, given this new information that I have that, in many ways, felt like sort of the missing puzzle piece."
Meanwhile, Kerry's memoir will be out on Sept. 26.
Taylor Swift cheers on Travis Kelce at Kansas City Chiefs game
It’s a love story, perhaps, for NFL tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, who was seen in Kelce’s family suite at Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears.
The singer was shown cheering on the Chiefs during the FOX Sports broadcast, dressed in a red and white team jacket. She appeared to be sitting next to Donna Kelce, the player’s mom, chatting and laughing throughout the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Swift’s show of support comes after weeks of speculation – by various NFL broadcasters and the vast majority of Swifties – that she and Kelce are dating. Though the two have not publicly confirmed any romantic link, Kelce said in an interview with ESPN last week that he finds the focus on Swift and him “hilarious.”
“This is like the old school game called telephone, where everybody is just whispering in everybody’s ear,” he said, adding that “no one actually knows what’s going on.”
The speculation began earlier this month when Kelce said on his podcast, “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce,” that he tried to slip his phone number via a friendship bracelet he made for Swift during one of her “Eras” tour concerts.
Alas, he told his brother Jason he was “disappointed” to learn that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because “she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings.”
“So, I was a little bit hurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” he added.
However, Kelce, it seems, tried one more play.
On Thursday, during his conversation with ESPN, Kelce said, “I threw the ball in her court and told her, ‘I’ve seen you rock the stage in Arrowhead. You might have to come see me rock the stage in Arrowhead and see which one’s a little more lit.’”
“We’ll see what happens in the near future,” he added.
Simone Biles condemns racism in sports amid outrage after Black gymnast is denied a competition medal
The footage shows several girls lined up as an official goes up to the athletes one by one and places a medal around each of their necks. The Black gymnast continues to smile as she confusedly looks at her other competitors and notices that she is the only one without a medal.
The viral post found its way to Olympic gold medalist Jordan Chiles. The American gymnast wrote, “Gymternet, [please] help me find this little girl. This is beyond hurtful on so many levels. I need you guys to find her [please]. ASAP,” in a Sept. 22 tweet. Her fellow Team USA teammate Simone Biles was tagged in the post by other users who hoped she, too, could help amplify the video. Biles responded, “When this video was circulating, her parents reached out. It broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video. There is no room for racism in any sport or at all!”
On Sunday (Sept. 23), the Irish Independent published an interview with the girl’s mother. “We are often the only Black family at gymnastics events, and this has been very hurtful for us. Now, 8 million people have seen the video. From Pakistan to Ethiopia, they can see this was wrong, but Gymnastics Ireland still can’t accept it and say sorry,” said the concerned parent. The publication said Biles’ video reassured the girl that she worthy of acknowledgment
Gymnastics Ireland issued a statement addressing the incident as backlash and claims of racism ramped up. The organization confirmed that the girl’s parents filed a complaint that was investigated by Sports Disputes Solutions Ireland. A resolution was reached in August 2023 after mediation.
“We identified the official concerned and informed the individual in question of the complaint. The official in question accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional. The official concerned said that upon realizing the mistake, they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the Field of Play (FoP),” read the statement.
The organization said that the official’s initial efforts to express regret for her actions were denied and that a written apology was instead issued to the family.
#BoxOfficeNews: ‘Expend4bles’ Flops With $8.3 Million Debut as ‘The Nun II’ Claims No. 1 Again
“The Expendables 4,” an action-thriller starring Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, misfired in its box office debut, tumbling to a franchise-low $8.3 million.
It landed in ever-so-slightly second place behind “The Nun II,” which collected $8.4 million in its third weekend. It’s possible the order could flip by the time the final tally is revealed on Monday. Even so, this weekend’s collective ticket sales resulted in the lowest-grossing box office frame of the year as not a single film managed to clear $10 million.
Despite the abysmal results, there are reasons to be more optimistic about the future of theatrical. Studios may be close to a deal with the writers on strike, and there’s hope that means a similar agreement could be looming for the actors union as well. This would give stars the ability to promote their upcoming films, which in turn could goose box office returns. The Game Stop stock-inspired “Dumb Money” and Kenneth Branagh’s murder mystery “A Haunting in Venice,” both of which have ensembles filled with famous faces, have suffered because the A-list casts weren’t allowed to talk about or promote their work during the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Heading into the weekend, the Lionsgate and Millenium “Expendables” fourquel was expected to open to $15 million from 3,400 North American theaters. Instead, audiences felt the film was, well, expendable. Without encouraging reviews or positive word-of-mouth, opening weekend figures weren’t anywhere close to its series predecessors of 2014’s “Expendables 3” with $15.8 million, 2012 sequel with $28.5 million and 2010’s original “Expendables” with $34.8 million.
“The last two ‘Expendables’ have dropped sharply from the previous episodes, and the weekend figure is below average for the genre,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research Critics. “Reviews are poor and audience ratings are dull.”
Though the “Expendables” series has declined in popularity at the domestic box office (the original ended up with $103 million in North America, while the most recent tapped out with a paltry $39 million), these films have been much bigger draws with international audiences. All three installments have earned at least $200 million globally. The fourth installment cost $100 million to produce, roughly the same as its predecessors. Scott Waugh directed “The Expendables 4,” which sees the teflon operatives attempting to stop a terrorist group that threatens to ignite a conflict between Russia and the United States.
“The movie was not cheap to make,” Gross adds. “While ancillary income should be strong, it appears the film will have a hard time getting to profitability after marketing and distribution costs.”
Elsewhere, it was a quiet weekend at the box office as “A Haunting in Venice,” “The Equalizer 3″ and “Barbie” continue to round out domestic charts.
“The Nun II” has been a lone bright spot in September as the supernatural sequel nears $70 million at the domestic box office and $204 million worldwide. It cost $38 million to produce and will be profitable for its backers, Warner Bros. and New Line.
“A Haunting in Venice” took third place with $6.3 million from 3,305 locations in its second weekend of release. So far, the Disney and 20th Century film has grossed $25.4 million in North America and $71.6 million globally.
At No. 4, Denzel Washington’s “The Equalizer 3” added $4.7 million in its fourth weekend of release. This brings its domestic tally to $81.26 million, just trailing “The Equalizer” ($101 million) and “The Equalizer 2” ($102 million). At the international box office, the third “Equalizer” has generated $67.4 million, bringing its worldwide haul to $148.66 million.
Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster “Barbie” rounded out box office charts with $3.2 million, remaining in the top five for its 10th consecutive weekend. The Warner Bros. movie has earned $630 million at the domestic box office and $1.427 billion worldwide.
This weekend’s other new release, Neon’s low-budget supernatural demonic thriller “It Lives Inside,” opened in seventh place with $2.6 million from 2,005 venues. It’s not a great result for a film that landed in more than 2,000 screens, but luckily for its distributor, the film wasn’t all that expensive to make.
“It Lives Inside” beat “Dumb Money” on box office charts. Sony’s comedic drama, starring Seth Rogen, Paul Dano, Pete Davidson and America Ferrera, took eighth place with a so-so $2.4 million from 616 million locations. The R-rated film has grossed $2.8 million to date.
At the specialty box office, A24’s re-release of the classic Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense” generated $800,637 from just 264 Imax screens over the weekend and an impressive $1.4 million to date. According to the studio, over 60% of audiences were not born when the original 1984 film was released.
“The film expands nationwide this weekend and will undoubtedly have audiences dancing in the aisles for another 40 years,” A24 wrote in a note to press.
President Joe Biden Catches Heat For Calling LL COOL J “Boy” During Train Wreck Speech
At one point, Biden got up to deliver a speech about both Hip-Hop artists and fumbled LL COOL J’s name—but then it got worse.
“Two of the great artists of our time representing the groundbreaking legacy of Hip-Hop in America , LL Jay Cool J, uhhh…” he said as the crowd laughed at the gaffe. “By the way that boy — that man’s got biceps bigger than my thighs.”
Of course, social media blew up with reactions to Biden’s blunder. One person wrote, “While speaking the black caucus joe Biden referred to legend MC LL Cool J as “Boy” and the black caucus laughed. Biden is the racist Malcolm X fought against,” while another said, “Cracked Segregationist Joe Biden calls rapper LL Cool J ‘boy.’ Old habits die hard. But it won’t matter. Democrats are the party of slavery, Jim Crow etc and the black community, victims of their destructive policies, continue to vote for these villains.”
Referring to an adult Black man as “boy” is historically racist. In the 1930s, a young Martin Luther King Jr. was sitting in the passenger seat of his father’s car when his dad accidentally ran a stop sign on a Georgia street. As King recalled in an essay, “A policeman pulled up to the car and said: ‘All right, boy, pull over and let me see your license. My father replied indignantly, ‘I’m no boy.’ Then, pointing to me, ‘This is a boy. I am a man, and until you call me one, I will not listen to you.”
Once King became a civil rights activist writing from a Birmingham, Alabama jail cell, he would point to the word “boy” as one of Jim Crow’s ritual humiliations, braided into the racial etiquette of the post-slavery South. He noted it was yet another way that white people weaponized language to remind Black people of their place.
Twitter (X) exploded with memes after Biden’s clip went viral.
Tasha K insults Cardi B as rapper tries to collect her money
While Cardi B speaks emphatically that blogger Tasha K needs to run her money to her, Tasha continues to inflame the situation by shooting more insults the rap empress.
As has been reported ad nauseam, a federal jury awarded the “Invasion of Privacy” rapper nearly $4 million in her defamation against the “UnWine With Tasha K” host for uttering a litany of defamatory statements on her podcast. Since the time the judgment was handed down in January 2023, Cardi has relentlessly pursued legal means to procure the bag from Tasha.
“I am currently in bankruptcy court attempting to work out a fair payment plan to pay you for your troubles that took place on my channel,” Tasha K penned on her Twitter account. “I have also chosen, NOT court ordered, to NOT make videos about you because you are sensitive. I also told the court yesterday that you or your lawyers have never attempted to reach out to settle. You want me out [of] my home, broke, and my kids to not attend college!”
Tasha performed a little bit of verbal gymnastics in her defense, saying that she’s already paid the settlement in full by billing Cardi $100,000 in weekly legal fees.
“Your lawyers have collected the 4 million that’s owed to you by simply making you pay for it by keeping you in litigation due to your lack of education,” Tasha continued.
“They play you simply wanting my platform down because of my opinion of you! And you don’t want others giving me a platform. They know you will pay any price to get it down and they are banking on that! However, the fact stands that My #MultiBillions of #Viewers across social media has Built this platform and continue to build this platform without saying your name in any video!”
Cardi is also accusing Tasha and her husband, Cheickna Kebe, of diverting funds to a bank in Africa, not to mention filing for bankruptcy, in order to avoid paying her off.
Therefore, Cardi has unleashed her legal hounds to subpoena the Kebes’ finances so that the revenue stream generated by Tasha’s YouTube show can be scrutinized meticulously by the court.
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
The Diaper is Full Now
Soiled!
Soiled!
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM
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